Dark Skys
by carrothien
Summary: Joey’s life is slowly hitting rock bottom. He starts thinking that he should just end it all. After a new girl arrives at Domino with similar problems can they help each other find hope?
1. Dark skys

**Summary: **Joey's life is slowly hitting rock bottom. He starts thinking that he should just end it all. After a new girl arrives at Domino with similar problems can they help each other find hope?

I also do not know Joey's father's real name so I designated him with one for this story. The rating may change eventually, but that won't happen until later on if at all. This story does contain mentions of child abuse, violence, some cussing, and (possibly) some thoughts of suicide.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh or anything relating to its creation.

'….' Joey's thoughts

I had posted this story a while back and I never finished it. Well now I plan on editing the chapters to fix mistakes and such and then continue where I left off. Please enjoy. And Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first go round. It's really meant a lot to me.

Any way on to the story

**Chapter 1**

* * *

The cold rain may have hid the tears falling from his eyes, but the rain could never hide the bruises that were slowly appearing on Joey Wheeler's face. He had received the numerous welts and bruises during a beating from his father earlier that morning. A meeting that he wish he had been able to avoid.

**Flashback**

Thomas Wheeler, Joey's father, didn't find his way home until around 4:00 in the morning from T.J.'s Bar. Joey woke up to the sound of his dad slamming his bedroom door open and standing in the doorway. The instant the door opened the room filled with the unmistakable stench of alcohol.

After a few seconds, which seemed like eternity to the teen, Thomas took a few heavy steps until he stood directly beside Joey's bed. Joey silently prayed that his dad would change his mind about what he was about to do. He knew it would never happen though; his father was too wasted, so he braced himself for the worse.

With one violent shove, Thomas flung Joey off his bed causing him to land hard on top of his left wrist causing him to yelp in pain. Before he could completely recover, Thomas walked around the bed, picked Joey up by the shirt collar, and threw him out of his bedroom. Joey's head slammed hard against the wall that was across from his doorframe. Blood started to pour from the newly opened gash that had appeared on the right side of his head, by his ear.

Thomas walked over to where his son now lay at his disposal. He then picked Joey up firmly by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eye, as if he was searching for an answer, to what Joey didn't know.

'What is he waiting for? Here's his big chance to get me good. Why is he hesitating? Will he just get it over with instead of dragging this out?'

As if complying with Joey's silent plea, Thomas threw the blonde teen down the wooden stairs located to the left of where they were currently standing. Joey could feel the bruises and welts start to form as the tumbled down the flight of stairs. Joey let out a yelp of pain as a splintered piece of wood impacted with his left knee. Joey finally landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Blood oozed down the side of his leg from where the splinter had hit him. He had come to the conclusion that at least 2 ribs were badly bruised if not broken, not to mentions the other bruises and cuts that he had just received. The gash on the side of his head had gotten slightly larger and was still bleeding.

Joey's body fell lifeless on the floor and his breathing had become slightly more labored. Despite this Thomas took no pity on his unmoving son. He staggered slowly and clumsily down the stairs. When he reached Joey he kicked him hard in the stomach. Joey bit back a scream and fought to keep the tears of pain that were threatening to fall down his pail face. He had grown to believe that crying was a weakness and he was determined not to give his father the satisfaction of seeing this.

Thomas picked Joey up again by the shoulders. "You know somethin' kid, you pathetic," was all the drunk man said before throwing Joey into a nearby wooden chair, which broke on impact. Thomas then turned away, stumbled up the stairs to his bedroom, and slammed the door shut, leaving Joey lying helpless amongst the broken pieces of the chair.

About fifteen minutes later Joey picked himself up off the floor and stumbled down the hall and into the bathroom to clean him self off. He turned the light on and waited a few seconds for his eyes to adjust to its brightness. His hands painfully turned the water on and went to work. After cleaning his knee and the other cuts out with soap and disinfectant, Joey started to bandage himself up. He figured that he would be able to hide most of his injuries beneath the uniform that he wore to school everyday. However the gash on the right side of his face and his black eye were going to be difficult to hide from people, especially his friends.

'How am I going to explain this to them?'

Joey shook his head slowly and looked at his watch. It was now 5:45am. Turning of the bathroom light he limped back up to his room, being extremely careful not to let anything touch his throbbing wrist. He figured that there was enough time to get another hour of sleep before having to leave for school. One thing he knew was true there was absolutely no way in hell he was staying home tomorrow with his father, he would prefer to stay as far from that man as possible. With that in mind he slowly drifted into an unpleasant slumber.

**End Flashback**

Joey continued walking or rather limping toward the school. Every step hurt worse than the previous one. Ignoring the pain of his aching limbs, the constant reminder of what he dealt with almost daily, Joey ran millions of answers through his mind, knowing full well of what was to come. His friends would definitely demand to know what happened to him. Joey decided to tell them that he had gotten into another fight, which wasn't to far from the truth. He smirked slightly as he imagined their reactions to the news. Yugi and Ryou would be worried as well as disappointed. Tea would reprimand him for getting into another fight, while Tristen gave him this whole lecture on how he shouldn't have fought alone. His smirk disappeared quickly as the school came into view. Joey closed his brown eyes and sighed.

'Here we go again.'

* * *

**TBC**

I hope you all liked chapter one. I know it was kind of short, but I should be posting chapter 2 soon. Well please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks.

Carrothien


	2. when it rains it pours

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh.

Wohoo I am not dead. Sorry for the long wait.

'' Joey's thoughts

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Joey walked into Domino High School hoping to avoid his friends for as long as possible. He wasn't looking forward to lying to them, but he couldn't get them involved with his personal life, it would be dangerous to let them find out. His father had made it perfectly clear that he would wish he were never born if anyone found out what happened at home.

As he reached his first class he became acutely aware to the fact that he was soaking wet. 'This is just great. How can things possibly get worse?' Joey thought. Just then Yugi, Ryou, Tea, and Tristen entered the classroom and headed over towards where he was seated at his desk. 'That's how.' Joey let out a heavy sigh knowing what was to come. Yugi's voice broke him from his thoughts.

"Hey Joey! How are y… Oh my gosh! What happened to you?" Joey raised his eyes to meet Yugi's concerned filled ones.

"Hey Yugi." Joey unintentionally cringed at the looks he was receiving from his friends. They shone with concern and anticipation of an explanation.

"Joey, how'd you get all those bruises and why are you sopping wet? I know it's pouring and all, but why didn't you bring an umbrella?" Tea looked at Joey impatiently waiting for his reply.

"Well to answer that question Tea, my umbrella broke and I couldn't find my jacket," Joey stated flatly. It hurt to talk. It hurt to move. It hurt to breathe. Joey figured that doing anything would most likely only result in more throbbing. However despite the pain Joey was able to act as if nothing was amiss. He had a fairly good tolerance to pain that he had developed over the years and lots of practice. It came in handy in tight situations.

"Joey you idiot." Tea's sudden outburst startled everyone. "You could get pneumonia or…" Tea kept rambling while Tristen stepped in.

"Answer the other question Joey. You know what I'm talking about. How'd you get the bruises?" Tristen kept his voice steady, but made sure he emphasized the question.

'Well here goes nothing. Sorry I have to do this guys.'

"I just got into another brawl that's all. Nothin' to worry about" Joey stated calmly, even though deep down he was terrified that his friends wouldn't believe him. He hated lying to them, but he had no choice. Tea stopped rambling, leaned over him to make herself more intimidating, and started lecturing, which In Joeys opinion was more or less yelling. This action made him sink lower into his chair.

"Nothing to worry about. What the hell is that supposed to mean. Have you looked in a mirror lately? That gash looks pretty serious."

"Don' worry bout it. I'm just fine. It just looks worse than it actually is. Really I'm ok. You don' need ta baby me. I can take care of myself." Joey was getting slightly irritated that she wouldn't let this go. Though in reality he appreciated their concern.

Yugi gave him a concerned look but stayed quiet. He knew better than to pry. They may have been best friends, but no matter how many times he protested Joey could never resist a good challenge, even if that meant fighting someone ten times his size.

Now it was Tristen's turn to start in. "Man, Joey! When are you going to stop getting into fights by yourself? One day you're going to get yourself killed cause you insist to do things solo." Tristen was frustrated that his friend refused to accept anyone's but Yugi's help.

"Thanks for carin' and all Tristen, but if you haven't noticed I'm fine, really. Never been better." Joey tried his best not to be mad he knew they only cared for his well being, but he had about his share of lectures for one morning.

"Really? Is that so?" Tristen reached out and grabbed Joey's wrist. Joey let out a gasp of pain and blinked back the tears. The pain was almost unbearable. He was just happy that he was right handed, thinking that he could avoid the pain, but he was wrong. Tristen quickly rolled up Joey's jacket sleeve and looked at his wrist. Joey heard the gasps come from the other three. "Shit. That looks bad. Have you had anyone look at this?"

"No and I don' intend to. Like I said I'm all right. It only hurts when I move it to much or when _someone_ applies pressure to it." Tristen took the hint and let go of Joey's arm. Joey stared to roll his sleeve back down and decided to add to his story. "One of the guys pushed me and I landed on it. And before you ask there were only three guys."

"Joey…" Tristen stopped when he received a glare from Joey the turned to Yugi, "Yugi isn't there anything you can do or say to knock some sense into him?"

"Well Tristen what makes you think Yugi can if threethugs can't." Tea interjected. Joey cringed at this, if only they had known the truth. In actuality he hadn't been in a fight with anyone but his father in months.

"Simple he's Joey's best bud." Joey let out a sigh, lowered his gaze to the floor, and started to rub his forehead with his right hand.

Ryou had been silent the whole time just watching how Joey reacted to the conversations. He had come to the conclusion that the blonde didn't want to deal with this right at the moment, so he stepped in.

"Guys, I think you're getting a little carried away here. He has obviously had a rough enough day already. What do you say we just let him be, even if just for a while?" Ryou caught a glimpse of a grateful look that Joey sent his way.

Yugi sighed, "Ryou's right. Let's just give it a rest for now and talk about it later. Ok?"

"Oh alright." Tea was disappointed at the conversations turn out, but realized that Ryou had been correct. Besides she could always get answers out of Joey later.

"Fine." Tristen mumbled just as the teacher walked in. The bell rang and they all returned to their seats, but not before giving Joey one last concerned look.

'That could have gone better' Joey thought as he let out a soft sigh and started working on his warm up hoping the day would get at least a little better.

TBC

Hope you liked chapter 2. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

Special thanks to animeaddict99, Luxie, Forces of the Dark.

And a BIG thanks to Death Jester for sticking with this story since it was first posted.


	3. Juniper

Yay two chapters in one sitting. Maybe even a third later today. I am going to try to knock quite a bit of this story this weekend

I'm having Domino High have the same schedule as the high schools in my area. They only have 4 classes and each class is and 1 ½ hours long. Also in this story Joey and his friends

Disclaimer: I really hate writing these things. Ah well. I do not own Yugioh.

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Joey's first class, history, went by too slowly for his liking. Every minute that passed felt like an eternity. He was happy that they didn't have to write a lot today because the teacher had printed the notes out and gave them to the students. All he had to do was act as if he were paying attention. Joey was getting slightly aggravated at the glances he kept receiving from his friends. He wished that they would just forget about the bruises and leave him alone.

Joey sighed heavily while listening to his teacher continue the lecture. 'Who really gives a crap about Napoleon Bonaparte.' Joey shook his head and looked at the clock. There were only five minutes left of class before he would have to go to biology, one of his least favorite classes seeing as he was barley holding a D in that class. He couldn't help it if he wasn't excited about learning about evolution or the cellular makeup of a leaf. The bell rang and shook him from his thoughts. He was glad the teacher hadn't given them homework that night. He wouldn't have done it anyway, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about it affecting his grade in the class.

Joey put his stuff in his backpack and stood up. He went the long way around the classroom to the door in the back thus avoiding his friends. He wasn't mad at them he just wasn't in the mood to deal with another bout of their questions again.

When he reached biology, he managed to sit down at his desk just before the late bell sounded. Yugi sat in front of him and Ryou sat to Yugi's right side. For once Joey was glad that Tea and Tristen did not share this class with them. By now Joey's ankle was throbbing due to the fact that he pushed himself to go faster in the hall to avoid another detention for being late to class again. He pushed the knowledge of the pain to the back of his mind when the teacher stood up and cleared his throat.

"Good morning class. I have some exciting news for you. A new student has just transferred to our school and is now going to join us this semester. Please introduce yourself young lady." A blonde girl entered the room with her emerald eyes cast to the floor. Her hair was pulled neatly into a ponytail. The girl wore a tan spaghetti strap tank top, blue jeans and black boots. She faced the class and looked up slightly. Joey instantly noticed the bruise that resided along her right cheekbone and another one on her right arm.

"Hello. My name is Juniper Scott. I just transferred here from Ritiki High School." She spoke softly and cast her gaze downward.

"Alright Juniper, please have a seat next to Yugi." Yugi raised his hand to let her know where he was seated. She walked over and took her seat at the empty desk. Joey watched as she sat down and couldn't help but notice her flinch slightly when her knee nicked the desk. He thought it was a little strange since she didn't hit it very hard, but shrugged it off. The teacher put up an assignment on the board.

"Class, here is your assignment for the day. You have until the end of class to complete all 78 questions. This is to be done in silence. Anyone who talks will be spending time with me after school. You may begin." The teacher went back to his desk and started to grade some papers from his first block class.

'Damn, that's a lot of questions. At least I have lunch after this class.' Joey thought as he got to work. 'I hope I'll see Juniper there.'

----1 hour and 20 minutes later---------

The bell rang and all the students turned there assignments in and left he classroom. Before Joey could talk to Juniper she was gone.

"Hey Joey." Joey turned around to see Tristen standing in front of him. "Did you get a good look at the new girl? She's kinda cute in a rugged sorta way."

"I have to agree with you there Trist. I haven't been able to talk to her yet. I hope I'll see her later. Maybe she's in ta duel monsters." Joey stated curiously.

"That is all you ever think about isn't it. I mean if it's not dueling, it's food." Tristen said while laughing slightly.

"Hey. I resent that." Joey put Tristen in a playful headlock and started walking out into the hall. Tristen broke out of the choke hold and pushed Joey lightly to the side, causing Joey let out a gasp of pain. "Shit Tristen what the hell did you push me for? Ya jerk that hurt." Joey yelled angrily. He instantly wished he would have kept his mouth shut. 'Great now he's really goin' to worry about me.'

"I didn't push you that hard. How bad did you get beat anyway?" Tristen asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Listen I already said it was nothing to worry bout. You just hit a bruise and it caught me off guard. Sorry for goin' off like that." Joey tried to sound as convincing as possible, but could tell that his friend wasn't buying the act. Fortunately for him Yugi and Tea walked over to where they had been standing. "Hey Yugi, Tea, what's up?"

"Hey Joey. Are you two going at it again?" Tea asked while rolling her eyes.

"Actually Tea you just missed it. But anyway let's get goin' to lunch. I'm starving." Joey stated as they started to walk toward the cafeteria.

"Tell us something new." Yugi joked. They all laughed, all fully aware of Joey's never ending appetite. They continued to walk and talk the rest of the way. Tristen however was lost in his own thoughts.

'What are you hiding from us, Joey? Why won't you tell us?' Tristen wondered. When he finally snapped out of his trance he realized that the others were far ahead of him.

"Hey guys. Wait for me." He ran and caught up with them and together they went into the lunch room sat down at their usual table and continued talking.

End Chap

Sorry if this chapter was kinda bad. The next one will be better. Please review.

Next chap. will have more on Juniper's life and probably some more about Joey's home life, not sure on that one yet.


	4. Hello, you are?

**Disclaimer**: I do not, I repeat I DO NOT own Yugioh.

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, school can be a real pain. Anyway on with chapter 4.

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Most everyone ate lunch outside on the campus in the fall and that everyone included Joey and his friends. Joey went to sit down at the picnic table next to Yugi when he spotted her. Juniper was sitting alone leaning against a tree sketch book in hand drawing a picture. He decided that he would never have a more opportune time to talk to her than now.

"Hey Yug, I'll talk to you later I have to go talk to somebody." Joey said without looking down at Yugi or waiting for a reply he started to walk off.

"See-ya Joey." Yugi called after him. "Hey guys, is it just me or has Joey been acting funny for quit some time now?"

"Yeah, you're right he seems kinda out of it lately. Wonder what for?" Tea responded.

"I wonder where he's going?" No one could answer the British accent that had asked the question. Instead they watched as Joey walked over to where Juniper was sitting.

**--Scene change to where Juniper and Joey now are--**

Joey walked coolly up to where Juniper sat drawing, what she was drawing he couldn't tell yet. 'What the hell am I supposed to say to her? Oh well here goes nothing.'

"Hey there!" Joey wanted to smack himself for saying that but decided that it was too late to do anything about, but he figured that at least he had gotten her attention.

"Hello. Um… Can I help you?" Juniper seemed cautious and slightly uncomfortable with talking to a complete stranger.

"Actually I just wanted to say hey. Your Juniper correct?" With a nod from her he continued talking. "I'm..."

"..Joey. You're in my second class."

"Yup. So, what are you drawing there?" Joey asked trying to peek over the top of her sketchbook to see the picture but she quickly turned to book upside down. "Why are you trying to hide what you're drawing? What are you afraid I'm going to do? Rip it up?" Joey was getting slightly irritated.

"Oh no, not at all. I didn't think that you would do something like that. It's just that, well, …I don't really like having people look at my art." Juniper cast her gaze downward to avoid eye contact. She never liked to look people in the eye for fear of getting a look of disappointment or shame. But she knew Joey wouldn't know this about her. In fact no one did. They all thought that it was a clever ploy to seem shy or just plain uninterested.

"C'mon just lemme see it. Please." Joey gave her his best puppy dog face in hopes of convincing her. To his surprise it actually worked.

"Oh fine. Just try not to smudge the lines." Juniper reluctantly handed him her sketchbook. Joey was taken back at what he saw. It was a picture of himself, Yugi, and Ryou. The setting was in the park by the lake. Ryou and Yugi were sitting on the ground while Joey was leaning against one of the trees. Not only was he surprised at who was in the picture, but he was also shocked and confused at why she wouldn't want people to look at her drawings. They were great. "This is really good. I mean it. You ever think of doing this professional?"

"No I don't think I'm talented enough to pull it off. I'm not that good." Juniper blushed slightly at the compliment. Joey handed her back her drawings and decided to sit down. He slowly descended toward the ground being careful not to flinch so she wouldn't ask questions. After sitting down Joey had a better look at the bruise on her face.

"Umm… I have a question. I don't wanna seem nosey or anythin' but, how did you get that bruise?" Joey saw her expression change to being uneasy. "I mean you don't have to answer if ya don' wanna."

"No it's alright. It's just kinda embarrassing. You see I kinda fell off my horse the other day. Let's just say instead of going over the jump together he didn't even try and I went through it." Juniper gave a nervous laugh and turned to face him. "How 'bout you? How did you get that gash and those bruises?" Joey immediately wished that he never asked. 'Damn it another person I have to lie to. Oh well that's life.' Joey thought bitterly.

"Well I sorta, kinda got into a fight yesterday. Nothing big. Let me put it this way I was pretty out numbered." Joey crossed his fingers hoping that she would buy it and not think poorly of him for seeming slightly bad boyish. He knew that not all girls liked guys like that.

"Oh. Doesn't it just blow when that happens? It has happened to me twice back home." Juniper smiled sympathetically and started to pack her stuff up, ignoring his surprised look. "Just out of curiosity why didn't you eat lunch?"

"Heh, I don't have any money." Joey stated flatly. Juniper then reached into her back pocket and grabbed her wallet. She pulled out two one-dollar bills and handed them to Joey.

"Go buy a soda or something. Well I gotta go. See-ya round Joey." With that she stood up waved and walked off.

"Hey Joey!" Yugi walked over to him with Tristen.

"Oh hey guys. I was just talking to Juniper. Ya know that new girl. She's real cool." Joey stood up and started walking toward a coke machine. He made a mental note to thank her as well as pay her back in the near future. He put his dollar in and pushed the button for a cherry coke. As he took a sip from the bottle the bell rung dismissing them from lunch. "Well let's go to class." All three of them walked to their third block class, which they had together and waited for class to start

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Tbc.

I know I said that this chapter would have more on Joey's home life and Juniper's background. The next chapter will have more action in it like the first chapter, of course with some differences, I promise. I should have another chapter up soon.

Please review and tell me what you think. The story will pick up soon. It's taking me a bit longer than I thought it would to set up the characters. Again thanks to all of you who have reviewed. Bye.


	5. Home sweet home

A HUGE thanks to all my reviewers.

**Disclaimer**: Again I do not own Yugioh. Man these things get annoyingly repetitive.

'…' Are thoughts.

Oh and the day of the week that the story started on was a Friday. This just helps a little with the story line.

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Fourth block had just ended. Most everyone was happy that they didn't have classes for another three days, most everyone that is. Juniper left her classes feeling depressed. She hated having to go back to the place she called home. She walked slowly toward the main entrance where she heard someone calling for her to wait. She turned around to see the grinning face of Joey standing in front of her, with two others at his side. Interesting enough one of them was the tri colored hair boy from her picture. The other was a boy she recognized from her second class. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He was just slightly taller than Joey was.

"Hey Juniper, I want you to meet Yugi and Tristen. They're two friends of mine." They waved and said hello. "Guys this is Juniper"

"Hi. Nice to meet both of you." Juniper stated shyly.

"We were headed over to Yugi's grandfather's game shop. Wanna come?" Joey hoped she would come so he could talk to her more, but the look on her face pretty much dissolved all hope.

"I wish I could but I have to get home and clean the house before my father comes home. You see he, well umm… he gets uh… upset if the house is left dirty. If I don't do it I'll be… in trouble, which I definitely don't want." Juniper stumbled over the right words not wanting to let anything slip that would cause anyone to become curious. She wasn't used to having to explain things to others since at her old school she tended to keep to herself so everyone let her alone.

"Oh, well maybe some other time. See ya round." They said their good-byes and went their separate ways. Juniper walked slowly towards her house. She was in no rush to see her 'father'. He couldn't be considered a decent father on any account.

Juniper reached her house and walked toward the door. Her house was nothing special. It was a two-story brick house that wasn't very big. She opened the door slowly and walked in, shutting it behind her. She let out a sigh of relief that she was the only one home at the time. It would be a few hours before she would have to deal with the old battle-axe.

Juniper's first priority was to get something to eat. She ended up not getting lunch because she wasn't hungry at the time, but now she definitely was. She pulled out a bowl, a spoon, milk and a box of store brand cereal. She poured herself a bowl and started to eat. As she did her thoughts shifted to Joey. Juniper thought that he seemed nice enough, but then again people are not always what they appear or say to be. She knew many people who this applied to, herself included. 'I feel bad for having to lie to Joey about being thrown from my horse. Then again I couldn't let him find out the truth.' Juniper let out a heavy sigh. 'No one can know.' With that final though she cleaned up her food and headed upstairs.

An hour later Juniper had finished all of her homework and decided to head back down to the kitchen, but stopped dead in the middle of the stairs when the front door was opened then closed again. 'Shit he's here already. It's only 4:00, I thought he wouldn't be here for at least another two hours.' A tall, thickly built man walked over to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her. Juniper could catch a slight scent of alcohol in the air as he approached. 'Well at least he's not too wasted this time.' The man before her was none other than her father, Kiisho. (AN: I suck with thinking of names).

She started to back up the stairs hoping that he would leave her alone this once. However the further back she went the faster he came forward. Eventually she reached the top of the stairs. Juniper hesitated then took off into a full out sprint to her room, but he was quick to follow. She locked the door behind her as quickly as possible, and darted to the other side of her room. Fortunately for her there wasn't much furniture in her room that would be obstacles. She only had a twin-sized bed and a desk. All of her clothes were kept in a small closet in the corner of her room. When she reached the other side, the bedroom door broke open, and Kiisho walked in.

He strode over to her slowly watching her every move. Juniper braced herself for the worse. 'Oh if only I hadn't moved it wouldn't end up being so bad.' Her father was now directly in front of her. He stared at her for a few seconds then raised his hand and back slapped her hard, sending her a few feet backwards into a wall. Blood oozed down from the corner of her mouth. Kiisho kicked her feet out from under her causing her to fall hard to the ground. He then proceeded to kick her twice in the stomach, making her double over in pain.

"Y' bitch, Ya shouln' have run." Kiisho slurred out as he picked Juniper up by her shoulders and forcing her to stand up on her own. He pushed Juniper back into the wall and slammed her head into it. This action resulted in a whimper of pain escaping her mouth. He punched her once more then started to walk out the door. He stopped in the doorframe.

"We need some milk, an' some more pap' towels. I sugges' y' git some soon." Juniper knew what he meant. She had to get it now or there would be more pain. Kiisho walked to his room and shut the door, leaving Juniper sitting on the floor in pain.

'Well at least this time wasn't so bad' Juniper thought as she pulled herself to her feet. She walked to the bathroom and cleaned the blood off her face and other wounds. The only noticeable mark at the time was a scratch on her left cheek under her eye, nothing to major. Juniper quickly checked for her wallet, which was still in her back pocket and headed toward the store. 'Hopefully he'll be gone when I get back.'

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Tbc.

The next chapter will involve Joey more than this one did, a lot more. Please review. To those of you who have before THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH. (hugs you all)

Anyway the next chapter should be up sometime soon I hope. Hope to hear from you.

Bye-bye.


	6. Bump in the night

Thank you to all who have reviewed.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh unfortunately.

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Joey left Yugi's house at 4:30 and was on the way home. Fortunately or him his dad would be gone all weekend at the bar like he always does. He was feeling slightly better than he did earlier. The soreness was becoming more and more tolerable as time went on. Joey was generally a fast healer which came in handy when it came to things involving his home life. He turned onto his road when he spotted Juniper facing away from him walking down the street he was just on. He was about to call for her to wait up, but something told him not to. Instead he decided to follow her to see where she was going.

After speed walking a little ways he got close enough to Juniper to where he could follow her closely without being easily seen. Joey decided that the pain he felt shot through his leg would at least be worth finding out where she lived. He noticed the bag in her hand was from the local convenience store. Though the bag could easily be held in one hand she was holding it with two, with some difficulty. She also had a small limp, though not incredibly visible, Joey had picked up on it quite quickly. He also knew that she hadn't had it earlier that day.

After walking for about five minutes Juniper turned into a driveway and took out her keys. Joey noted that the house she walked up to was red brick and had two windows open with the blinds shut tight. Joey stopped by a nearby tree and waited. He planned on going up to the house and knocking, but wanted to space it out so it didn't seem like he followed her. Juniper disappeared inside the house and quickly shut the door behind her. Joey glanced at his watch and began the countdown.

He continued to stare at his watch for a minute until he heard something crash from inside her house followed by the sound of glass breaking. He stared at the house for a second trying to think of what could be going on in the house. Then he heard a girl give off a scream of pain followed by another crash. Joey then made up his mind that he had waited long enough to approach the house.

As he started to come out from behind the tree when a man swung open the front door of Juniper's house and slam it shut behind him. He then walked over to his car, got in and peeled off down the street.

'It's now or never' Joey told himself as he quickly made his way over to the front door. He reached for the handle and was surprised to that it had been left unlocked. He slowly turned the knob and poked his head in the door. He immediately caught sight of a smashed up table. 'So that's what that was. I wonder where everyone is.' Joey slowly started to walk his way into the house.

"Hello. Anybody here? …Hello? …..Juniper?" Joey waited a second for a reply. When he got none he started to get worried. "Hey c'mon this isn't funny. It's me Joey. Juniper I know you're here I saw you come in. Where are you?" again there was no reply.

He walked into a room located to the left. It appeared to be a living room, or at least it may have been at one point or another. Now all that was in the room was an old worn out couch that had duct tape in various places. (Duct tape fixes all.) In corner of the rooms there lied the remains of what used to be a lamp. Another room was off to the right of where he was standing. As he walked toward the room he scanned the room slowly. His gaze stopped when it came to a corner, opposite the one where the lamp pieces were. There was what seemed to be blood stains covering the wall. When he looked closer he saw more stains on the floor and couch.

"Shit. Juniper where the hell are you?" Joey yelled. He was starting to freak out. He was hoping it was all just a cruel joke or something, but the nagging feeling in the back of his head prevented him from completely believing this. When he entered the dinning room that was attached to the kitchen. He strode over to the door frame and saw something lying on the floor.

'Please don't let that be her. Please don't let that be her.' Joey kept repeating to himself. The figure was lying on its side with its face turned away from Joey. He went over to it, kneeled down and turned the body to face him. He gasped at what he saw. Not only was it Juniper, but she was bleeding badly from multiple places, mainly around her left eye. He could see shards of glass in various cuts on the face and neck along with more bruises. Her side was also bleeding and her leg was twisted in an odd angle. Joey couldn't tell if she was even alive at that point. It didn't appear that she was breathing. He reached down and placed two fingers on her neck to try and find her pulse. He gasped at what he felt.

"Holy shit."

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TBC.

Don't you just love cliff hangers? Sorry that it was a little short. Please review and tell me what you think.


	7. parallel

Thanx to all the reviewers.

Onto chapter 7. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

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"Holy shit."

Joey quickly realized how bad Juniper's situation was. Although she still had a heart beat, it was pretty faint and her breathing was labored. Joey tried to figure out what the best course of action would be. He thought of taking her to Yugi's since both his and Juniper's houses could be considered potential war zones. However he knew from experience he wouldn't want anyone to know what was going on for fear of being pitied.

Joey settled for the old couch in the other room. He laid her down and then went in search for a first aid kit. He managed to find it in a cabinet in a bathroom. Along with the kit he grabbed 2 wash cloth and a bowl of water. He knelt down and looked her face over again. The let side of her face had multiple cuts on it; most of them were small but deep. Scattered bruises and cuts were located on her neck, hands and the rest of her face. Joey let oust a sigh and went to work.

He started off pulling the glass out of her multiple cuts; he knew she got from a bottle being thrown at her face. The same thing had happened to him many times before. After getting rid of the glass shards he dampened the wash cloth and cleaned up the blood. Most of the cuts had stopped bleeding which had made cleaning easier. Aftera few minutes he started to clean out the cuts on the rest of her body.

He put some disinfectant on the other cloth and started to dab a cut on her forehead. As the cloth touched her skin he heard a slight moan of pain. He leaned back and looked at her face again. A slight smile crept across his face as he saw her eyes flicker open slightly. Juniper turned her head and shot into a sitting position at the sight of Joey. However she quickly collapsed back down when a pain shot through her body. She let out a small whimper of pain and squeezed her eyes close.

Joey scooted closer to her to try and comfort her, but held back from touching her seeing as she was in enough pain as is without someone hitting a bruise. After Juniper recovered from the pain she looked Joey straight in the eye. They stared in each other's eyes for a few moments wondering what the other was thinking. Finally Juniper spoke up.

"Umm. How much do you know?" She spoke quietly in a low strained voice. Joey's gaze softened and he pushed some loose hair behind her ear.

"Enough to get a basic idea as to what is going on between you an' your father." Her eyes looked down at the ground and a tear fell down her cheek.

"I guess I should start from the beginning, huh?"

"Yeah, that's normally a good place ta start" Juniper let out a soft sigh then turned her gaze back onto Joey's face.

"Well as you figured out, my father gets a kick out of beating the shit out of me. It could be the alcohol or suppressed anger... I dunno. I still don't know why he does it. There's to many things that it could be. Anyway, it all started about 8 years ago, when I was 9. My mother and sister had died in a car crash and my father didn't take it too well. At first it wasn't so bad. He just yelled at us, my brother and me, a lot. The hitting didn't start until I was about 11." Juniper paused. "Have I lost you yet?"

"No. Please continue." Joey sat silently. Part of him didn't want to hear about the horrible things she went to, but something told him that she needed to let someone know.

"Ok. Well like I said the hitting didn't start until I was 11. Normally it was just a slap across the face and he left it at that. It slowly progressed over the years to where he would kick and punch us. About 3 years ago my brother left and moved into a boarding house in California to get away. I, however, stayed. After my brother left is when my dad really got brutal. He's done a lot over the years. I've been stabbed twice, thrown though furniture, windows. Most of the time it wasn't to serious. I only went to the hospital twice. Once due to a stab wound and the other time was because he beat me to the brink of death. Both instances he lied to the doctors and said I got caught up in a gang fight.. And well you can basically figure out the rest from there." Juniper looked away from Joey and started to cry, not wanting to see the look on his face. She was surprised to feel a soft hand on her shoulder.

"Don' worry. I won't tell anyone unless you want me too." Juniper was shocked that he didn't threaten to tell the police for her like most people did if they found out. "I mean you probably don't wan anyone to know abou' it. You feel that they would pity ya and treat ya differently and that things would never be the same." His voice got quieter as he spoke and got slightly sadder. Juniper was startled about how he knew exactly how she felt.

"Yea but how did you know that's how I feel?" Juniper's instantly realized something that hadn't crossed her mind before. Maybe Joey dealt with the same thing at his home. In any case she was determined to find out if she was right or not. "Wait a second. Joey how did you get your bruises? I mean really, who gave them to you." She cut him off quickly before he could reply. "And don't lie to me after I was completely honest with you." He didn't respond, instead he looked at the ground. "Damn it. You deal with the same shit don't you?" Joey knew that he was cornered and would have to spill everything out. He just hoped that she would understand.

"Ya guessed right. My dad is an asshole too. Only I know why my dad got started. It was when he an' my mom got a divorce. I was about 8 at the time. My mom left and took my sister with her. My dad was real mad abou' her doin' that and took it out on the one person he could think of. Me. I never have gone to the hospital cause of 'im, but he can get carried away. Anyway you know how the rest goes." Juniper smiled slightly, relived that they both had finally gotten to tell someone. It felt good to let go some of the pain.

"Joey thanks for telling me. I'm glad that we can trust each other. At least know we won't have to go through it alone." Joey looked her in the eye and grinned.

"How in the world can you stay so positive?"

"It's cause of my mom. She used to tell me that 'hope would always find you, even in your darkest hour. Just believe and love will find and protect you.' It means that you should always keep hope in your heart and one day you will find the light in the darkness."

They both sat in silence for a few moments finding comfort each others company. Joey pickled up a bandage and started wrapping Juniper's arm. She smiled and started to finish cleaning out some other cuts. They continued doing this in silence just glad that someone who cared was there. They spent the remainder of the afternoon together talking. Joey left around 8:00 that night in order to let Juniper get some much needed sleep. As he walked home he remembered what Juniper said. 'Hope would always find you, even in your darkest hour. Just believe and love will find and protect you.' He smiled and continued walking.

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Tbc

I hope you all liked this chapter. Please review and tell me what you thought of it. The next chapter will be up soon.


	8. Breakast and Duel monsters

Yea another chapter. How bout that 4 chapters is one go. Hopefully within the week I can have another few posted for ya. Enjoy!

Any way time for the disclaimer: I DO NOT own Yugioh and am not making any profit whatsoever by writing this story.

Juniper's dueling deck is pretty much made up of cards that do not really exist. Some are actual cards, such as Polymerization, but for the most part the cards were just made up. Any names they may share with other cards are completely accidental. I am sure the differences will be apparent.

On with chapter 8 --------------- -------------------------------- --------------------------- ---- ------------------

It was Saturday morning, the one day of the week a person should be able to sleep in. Unfortunately for Joey Wheeler that was not the case. Around 9:00 am Thomas finally came home and wasn't quiet about it either. He slammed every door possible and cursing loudly, which in turn woke Joey up. He decided it was in his best interest to stay in his room and out of the way. After awhile Joey hesitantly got out of bed. His room was felt slightly cold to him, seeing as he was only in an oversized white t-shirt and a pair of black boxers. Joey walked over to a small table in the corner of his room, opened a drawer and pulled out his dueling deck. He randomly sorted out cards to bide time until his father was either a) asleep; b) Gone from the house; or c) out of the way enough to make a quick escape. Unfortunately Joey wasn't able to avoid his father before any of the three things could happen.

Thomas walked into Joey's bedroom and shoved him harshly of the side of his bed, where he had been sitting. He then proceeded to walk over to where Joey now sat and lift him by the collar of his shirt.

"You listen to me boy. I want you out of this house in less than 20 minutes. You got that! Sheila is coming over and I don't want you around when she gets here." Joey numbly nodded as a reply. His father glared at him a few more seconds then punched him once across the face causing him to fall back down to the ground. With that being done he left and went to his own room.

'Well that wasn't so bad. Must be my lucky day.' Jody thought as he pulled himself off the floor. 'Where can I go? Yugi won't be up yet neither will Tristen, and I don't think Tea's mom would appreciate me strolling over there at 9:30 in the morning for no apparent reason, Well at least no reason she can know about.' Joey decided he would figure out where to go after he left. 'No sense in sticking around here longer than possible.' Joey changed into a pair of jeans and a red shirt with a black dragon on it. After putting on a pair of tennis shoes he left the house.

After walking past a few houses he decided that he would go check in on Juniper, hopefully she was correct in her assumption that her dad would not come home until Sunday night that way he would be in the clear. After about 10 minutes he reached her house, he was relieved to see no car in the driveway. He walked up to the door and rang the door bell. When there was no reply he rang it again. This time he heard a voice yell for him to hold on a second followed by the sound of footsteps. Juniper slowly opened the door and looked at the visitor. A smile instantly spread across her face when she saw it was Joey.

"Hey, What are you doing here?" She asked softly. Joey looked her over noticing that she was wearing a pair of loose fitting jeans, and a orange t-shirt. He noted that she looked mush better than she did the night before. All of her cuts had been cleaned up a bit more and she was visibly less sore.

"Hi. Do ya min' if I stay here for a while? My dad kicked me out for the day because some girl is coming over." Juniper's face softened as he spoke. She opened the door, moved to the side, and gestured for him to come in. The house had been cleaned up from the day before. Juniper closed the door then the y turned to face each other. "Well you're certainly looking better." Joey smiled as a faint blush spread across her cheeks.

"Yea, it's amazing what a nice long bath can do for a girl." This statement was followed by a long silence. Finally Juniper spoke up. "Are you hungry? I for one haven't eaten anything yet and I'm about to make myself some breakfast. Ya want anything?" Joey laughed at her question. He knew that if the others had been there they would have laughed to.

"Of course I'm hungry. When am I not?" Both laughed as they walked to the kitchen.

"Well then what do you want to eat?" She had already started getting out milk and some eggs from the fridge.

"Well what's there to eat?" She sighed and shook her head.

"This is getting me nowhere. Since you won't just ask if I can make you a certain dish I will just make whatever I want."

"Whoa there, some ones a little snappy in the morning." Juniper smiled and walked over and punched him lightly on the arm.

"Are you always this difficult in the morning?" She smiled at him before walking over to some cabinets to pull out a pan. "If your majesty doesn't mind I'm going to make French toast and scrambled eggs. Any objections?"

"None here." Joey walked over to the kitchen table and sat down in a chair while Juniper started cooking. Joey decided to look through his deck dueling deck while he waited. After about 15 minutes Juniper came over to the table with two plates and set them down then got two glasses of milk and set them on the table as well. It was then that she noticed the duel monster cards in his hand.

"Hey I didn't know you were into duel monsters. What's your favorite card?" Juniper asked as she sat down.

"My favorite card is of course my Flame Swordsmen. Do you duel?" Joey asked enthusiastically.

"Of course I do. Here I'll show you my deck." Juniper reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out her deck. She looked through her cards then pulled one out. "Ah, here it is. This here is my favorite card." She handed Joey a card with a dark red dragon on it. It had an attack power of 2800 and a defense of 2400. "This card goes by two names. It's original name was the Crimson Blood Dragon, but then got shortened to just Crimson Dragon. Probably cause the name sounded too harsh for the kiddies."

"Yea yer probably right. Yugi's grandfather owns a game shop with all kinds of duel monsters. After we eat ya want to go check it out?" Joey finished eating his first slice of French toast and was working on his second.

"Sure I don't see why not. I just have to change and grab a few things than we can leave." Juniper stood up and put her dishes in the sink. She then left the room and headed up the stairs to her room. Joey quickly ate the rest of his breakfast, put his dishes in the sink and waited by the front door. After about 3 minutes Juniper came down the stairs wearing a pair of blue, well fitting flair jeans and a black turtle neck tank top. She wore her hair down, it reached just past the middle of her back. She had a small backpack with her. "Ready to go?"

"Yep. Let's get goin'." They walked out of her house and shut the door behind them. After making sure it was locked they went on their way. "What you got in the bag?"

"Oh, just my dueling deck, some cd's, and my drawing stuff. You never know when that type of stuff will come in handy."

"Yea you never know when you'll need kick some ones ass with a sketch book." They both laughed at the comment and continued their journey to Yugi's.

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Tbc. Well I hope you all like this chapter. Pease review and tell me what you think.


	9. some down time

This isn't a new chapter I just went back and fixed some typos and misspellings that had occurred.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh or anything pertaining to its creation.

Another huge thanks to those who reviewed. And a special thanks to Death Jester who has stuck with me for this long. Sorry bout the wait but hopefully I will be done the whole story fairly soon

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Joey and Juniper arrived at the Turtle Game Shop a few minutes later. Juniper stopped Joey before they went in. She pulled a black jacket out of her bag and handed it to him.

"Um, you left your jacket at my house yesterday. I forgot to give it to you when we were at my house.

"Oh thanks I was wondering what I did with it after I got home yesterday." They then proceeded to open the door to the shop. A tiny bell rang as they entered the shop. Some noises could be heard in a room located in the back of the store. Joey walked over to the counter and tried to look into the back room.

"Hey Yugi, are ya back there bud?" Joey asked still trying to make out who was in the back room. All he got for a response was a muffled voice. After a few seconds Yugi emerged from the backroom holding a box. He set carefully on the counter then looked up grinning at his friend.

"Hi Joey! What are you doing here this early?" Yugi was curious on why Joey of all people would be awake earlier than 10:30 on a Saturday.

"Just came to see what you were doing today. That and I came by to show Juniper the game shop." He motioned to the girl looking at one of the cards on display. "You remember her right. I introduced you two yesterday after school.

"Yea sure I do. Hey Juniper." Juniper glanced up from where she was standing. Yugi noticed that she had new bruises and cuts but decided that she probably didn't want someone that she barely knew prying into her business, so he didn't bother asking about them. (A/N: I know he probably would have asked anyway because he's just caring like that, but I decided to make him a little more passive on this one.)

"Oh. Hey Yugi. Um, I was wondering how much this card is." Yugi walked over to where she was standing. Juniper pointed down at the card she wanted that was located in the case. "The one I'm talking about is Kiitra the Serpent." The card was a cobra type monster with an attack power of 2100 and a defense of 1900.

"Kiitra is a pretty rare card and therefore are pretty hard to find."

"So you mean that it is going to be pretty darn expensive." Juniper finished for Yugi knowing what he was getting at.

"Yep. This card is $45, with tax"(A/N: I have no idea how much a rare card would be. So I just guessed)

"Well that is a lot. But, I think I'll buy it from you." Juniper reached into her bag and searched for her wallet ignoring the strange looks she was receiving from both boys. She pulled out two twenties and a five. "Here you go." Juniper and Yugi exchanged the card for the money. She promptly placed it in her deck never losing the grin on her face.

"Um, not to sound rude, but where did ya get the money from?" Joey asked curiously.

"Back home I had a job working at a game store. It was similar to this one, only it had more technological stuff than this one carries. I got paid commission plus got discounts on all the cards, including the rare ones. That's how I was able to get all my cards."

"That's cool. Hey Yugi do you have anythin' planned for today? I was going to see if we all could go to the park or something."

"Actually I don't. Grandpa should be back in about 15 minutes and Tristen and Tea are already on their way over here. I called them up about 5 minutes before you two got here. Ryou couldn't come over today. I don't remember why he said he couldn't make it though."

"That's ok. We'll jus' catch up with him later." Right as Joey finished talking Tristen and Tea walked in the store.

"Oh hey guys. I would like you to meet Juniper." Yugi said as Juniper gave them a small smile and waved. "Juniper this is Tea and you already met Tristen." They exchanged hellos and a few other comments before heading to the park. Juniper and Joey had taken their place at the back of the group on their journey. Juniper noticed that Joey had started to rub his wrist as they were walking.

"Joey, what's wrong with your wrist." She whispered, not sure if he wanted the others to know about his 'situation.'

"I landed on it during me and my dad's fight the other day." Joey kept his eyes diverted to the ground as he spoke. Juniper mouthed a silent 'oh' before reaching over and taking hold of his arm. She gently rolled up the sleeve of his jacket and looked at his bruised wrist. It was a deep purplish color. She lightly ran her hand over it before rolling his sleeve down.

"You should wrap that in an ace bandage. It would restrict the amount of movement that your wrist could use plus help it heal faster. You could tell everyone that you sprained it if they asked questions." Joey said a quick thanks before he heard Tristen say his name.

"Care to enlighten the rest of us on what is going on between the two of you?" Joey started to mentally freak out. 'oh god what if he knows what we were talking about. I'll never hear the end of it.'

"Wha'cha mean Tristen?" Tristen smirked seeing the fear in his friend's eyes at being discovered. This fear also didn't go unnoticed to Yugi and Tea who watched as the conversation escalated.

"What are you two talking about?" Seeing as Joey was not handling himself well Juniper decided to answer the question.

"Actually Joey just asked if I could do him a favor by drawing him a picture." Joey shot Juniper a grateful glance hoping that her answer would get him off the hook from the interrogation. If she kept this up he was going to owe her big time.

"What's he want you to draw a picture for?" Juniper let out a sigh getting slightly annoyed by all the questions.

"He wants me to draw a picture of him with you guys. You know a picture with his friends. Drawings always have more depth and feeling than photographs do. Does that answer your question?" Juniper gave Tristen her own smirk when his disappeared.

"Almost I just have one more. When are you going to draw it?" He gave her a suspicious look.

"Actually I was going to draw it when we got to the park." Juniper was all the more grateful that she had brought her drawing stuff. Not only would she help ease Tristen's mind of any suspicion it would also keep her from having to do any activities that might cause unwanted attention to be directed at her bruises.

"Joey that's a great idea. I can't believe you actually thought of it. This will be fun." Yugi stated as he grinned and quickened his pace. "Let's hurry there then." With that he took off running. After a few seconds Tea and Tristen joined him while Juniper and Joey stayed back.

"Thanks for covering." Joey smiled.

"No problem. This should be fun. Besides it will help me from finding excuses why I can't do certain things." She stated.

"Well thanks again." With that being said Joey put his hands on her shoulders and made her stop walking. Juniper lifted her head to look him in the eyes, completely confused on what he was doing. He quickly kissed her on the lips causing her to gasp slightly. Without giving her a time to say anything he flashed her his famous grin and took off jogging toward where the others went. Juniper put two fingers on her lips where he had kissed her and gave a small smile, before laughing and shaking her head. 'I owe you so much Joey and I'll get you back for that. You can count on it.' Juniper thought as she kept up her quick pace towards the park.

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Please tell me what you thought of it. I will try to make my upcoming chapters longer, but I can't guarantee that they will be. It all depends on how much free time I get to write.


	10. Picture perfect

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Thank you to all those who have reviewed so far.

Woohoo I am finally getting these chapters up. One step closer to being done

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After everyone reached the park the group decided to walk around for a while before having Juniper start on the picture. The whole time they walked all they did was ask Juniper about herself. The questions included things about her dueling deck and experiences dueling, what she liked to do, and even things on what the city she moved from was like. She answered all the questions happily, just hoping to avoid any that were too personal. They continued walking until they got to the lake, where they decided to stop. The area they now stood in had a small swing set that had three swings, a lot of tress, and a dock where people could go fishing off of. They walked over to the swings and sat down. Yugi, Tea and Joey sat on the swings while Juniper and Tristen sat on the ground.

"Uh guys, I just thought of something. Shouldn't we wait to do the pictures until Ryou is with us? I mean it's not fair for us to have a group picture without him." Tristen stated.

"Oh that won't be a problem. I met him yesterday after school. In fact none of you have to sit around here while I draw. Since I already know what all of you look like it'll be easy to do it off the top of my head." Juniper told them as she took out her drawing pencils and sketchbook.

"That's cool. What is it that you want us to do while you draw?" Tea asked as she stood up

"It really doesn't matter, do whatever you want." Juniper started drawing small lines on the page as she spoke. Joey laid down on the grass with his hands behind his head.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night so I think I'll take a nap." Yugi nodded as he and the others left to walk around the park in hopes of finding something else to do. Within minutes Joey was fast asleep. The area of the park they were located at was relatively quiet. The only sounds that could be hear were a few birds and leaves shaking in the light breeze.

Juniper worked for about an hour before leaning back against the tree she was sitting in front of and took a small break. The drawing was coming along very well; she already had the basic lines finished all she had to do was go back and fill in all the details, which was the hard part. Juniper took this time to look over Joey. He had turned on his side so he was now facing her still snoring softly and occasionally mumbling small incoherent phrases. Juniper gently brushed some bangs out of his face as she wondered what he was dreaming about before letting out a small sigh. Juniper thought back on what she had learned about him over the past two days. She felt horrible that he had to go through the same torture day in and day out like she did. She traced the bruise along his jawbone with her eyes. It was surprising how fast the bruise was fading from when she first saw it. 'Hopefully he won't make the same mistakes I made' she thought to herself before getting back to work

Two more hours passed before Yugi, Tristen, and slightly ticked Tea came back. By this time Juniper had just finished her drawing and was leaning against the tree looking at a football game that had started a few minutes before near where she sat. They walked over to where Juniper and Joey, still asleep, were. Juniper looked up at them with a shocked expression on her face at the sight of the trio. Yugi was covered in mud while Tristen only had some mud on his pants. Tea was completely clean except for a set of handprints on the back of her white shirt.

"What in the world happened to you guys?" She said trying her hardest not to burst out laughing.

"Well while we were walking we passed a group of people playing some warped version of soccer. It was more or less a wrestling match for how they played it. The whole 'field' was mud so I didn't play, but that didn't stop these two from getting dirty." Tea stated shaking her head, while Yugi and Tristen were trying their best to look innocent.

"Well then how did you get muddy?"

"I sorta fell and tried to catch my balance with her." Tristen said in his defense.

"Why in the world did you try to do that. You should have just fell towards one of your team mates." Tea yelled.

"None of them were around and besides if I hadn't used you to catch my balance I could have fallen and gotten really hurt." Tristen retaliated.

"Well what's done is done. Nothing either of you can do about it now." Juniper stated not wanting to watch an all out blaming spree start. Yugi shot her a grateful glance before she continued talking. "Though Tristen you really should buy her a new shirt to make up for ruining it."

"I guess so." Tristen pouted before looking back at Juniper before quickly changing the subject. "How's that drawing coming along."

"Oh yea, I finished it a few minutes ago. Here take a look." Juniper handed them the sketchbook after turning to the correct page. The drawing was of the group by the swings. Sitting on the swings from left to right were Yugi, Tea, and then Ryou. Tristen stood behind Tea with his hands one the chains of the swing leaning forward slightly while Joey was to Yugi's left leaning against one of the poles.

"Whoa this is good." Tristen complimented. Tea and Yugi nodded in agreement.

"Why thank you. I tried my best on it." Juniper said smiling. She stood up and stretched her arms out.

"Could you make me a copy of this? I mean later, not now." Tristen asked.

"Sure. If you want I'll make copies for all of you." They all nodded accepting the offer. "Now what do you say we waked sleeping beauty up and go get some lunch." They nodded before Tristen gave them a devilish grin. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing to drastic. Tea can you grab his feet and help me lift him up?" Tristen asked as he lifted Joey up by his shoulders. "Ya see Joey here is a real heavy sleeper. He can sleep through pretty much anything." After lifting Joey up the two teens started making their way over to the lake. Automatically Juniper knew what they were planning on doing and so did Yugi who just stood there and shook his head.

"Are you two sure this is necessary. I mean he is really going to be pissed off when he wakes up." Juniper stated trying to stop them.

"Yes." They said simultaneously. Tristen and Tea reached the edge of the lake while Juniper and Yugi watched from their position by the swings. Tea counted to three then they launched the blonde teen into the water. Instantly Joey woke up with a start and yelled out a stream of curses before getting on shore and glaring at his two attackers.

"Oh you two are so dead for tha' one." Joey stated as he started to chase after the two. Juniper and Yugi stayed put and watched laughing as Tea got thrown into the water followed by Tristen. However Tristen managed to make Joey fall with him and thus a water fight broke out.

"Guess we just have to wait and let them finish this up." Juniper said and giggled slightly as a mud ball hit Tristen squarely in the face.

"That's usually the best thing to do." With that being said the two dry teens sat back and watched the fight carry on undisturbed.

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	11. Fallen angel

Disclaimer: For the 11th time I do not own Yugioh.

A HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed.

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It had started to get dark when Joey and Juniper said their good byes and started heading back to their houses. They had spent a few hours after lunch at the arcade where they battled each other in a variety of games, Most of which were won by Yugi. When the duo had reached the road that Joey would normally turn down to go home, they stopped. Juniper turned to face Joey and looked him in the eye.

"What are you going to do about your dad?" Juniper asked, her voice filled with concern.

"What do you mean?" Joey was worried that she was going to tell him that he had to get from the authorities to help him. "I can deal with him really. I don't need to see anyone about it if that's what ya mean."

"No that's not what I meant at all. I meant where are you going to stay tonight? Didn't your dad tell you not to come home?"

"Oh yea. I almost forgot about that." Joey admitted sheepishly, which resulted in having Juniper shake her head at him. "I'm not sure. I guess I'll jus' find someplace to stick myself for the night. Nothin' I haven't done before."

"Oh no your not Wheeler!" Juniper responded. The amount of authority in her voice shocked Joey, who was staring wide eyed at her. "You will not be sleeping on the streets. For one it's dangerous and secondly it is supposed to get pretty cold tonight." She paused for a minute and bit her lip in thought before looking up at Joey and smiling up at him. "I know. Well Joey it seems that the only choice you have is to stay at my place."

"What? There is no way that is ever going to work. What made you…"

"Of course it will work." Juniper cut him off in attempts to explain her decision. "You see my dad won't be home until late tomorrow night leaving the number of occupants at my house to be one, me. We both know your dad won't come looking for you and my house has more than enough room for the two of us to stay." Jody still didn't look completely convinced. "Come on it will be fun. We can get pizza and a movie. Please Joey, I don't want you to have to stay out here all night. I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you."

After a minute Joey started walking in the direction of Juniper's house. "Well are you coming or not. The temperature is dropping and I want to get warm." Juniper smiled warmly and chased after him.

The pizza had arrived and they sat down on the couch in front of the television. The movie they were going to watch had still yet to be decided. Finally after channel surfing for 5 minutes they decided to watch "Grease" which was on TV.

"What do you want to drink?" Juniper asked as she headed into the kitchen to get herself a can of coke.

"I'll take a coke too, thanks." Joey said with his mouth half full of food. When she returned they both continued eating, every once in a while making fun of the events that were taking place or mimicking characters. To Joey hearing Juniper's soft laugh was like an addiction, once you hear it once you just have to hear it again. Half way through the movie during a commercial break Juniper picked up the pizza box and cans of coke and took them into the kitchen, with Joey watching her every move. 'I can't believe it. I think I am really fallin' for her.' Joey thought while he repositioned himself on the couch so he would be more comfortable. When Juniper returned she had two bowls of strawberry ice cream in her hands and sat down right next to Joey.

"Here I thought you might want some." Juniper offered it over to him. He took it after saying a quick thanks and turned back to the movie that had come back on. When they were done eating they set the dishes on the floor in front of them. Now with his hands free, Joey put his arm around Juniper's shoulders, which to his surprise she leaned into it and put her head on his shoulder. (AN: Well technically if his arm were around her she would lean her head against the area around his collarbone or the small of his neck. But since I didn't know how to put what it was called I stuck with shoulder.)

The movie finally ended around 11:00. They had rearranged themselves during the movie so that they both were lying with Juniper's head resting on Joey's chest. Joey tilted his head down to look at Juniper, who had fallen asleep. Despite the bruises and cuts that he could see on her she looked very peaceful. 'Just like a fallen angel' he thought smiling at her. Joey decided not to disturb her, so he let her sleep on him. Joey had realized something about the time he spent with Juniper, when he was with her he could forget about everything else in his life and just relax, something he couldn't even completely do around Yugi or Tristen for fear of them finding out about his home life. With a small smile he laid a soft kiss on the top of her head and whispered goodnight before me shut his eyes and also fell asleep.

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I know that this chapter is on the short side, sorry bout that. But hey I have been posting multiple chapters in a day so that has to count for something right? Well I hope it does anyway.

Thank you all and please keep reviewing, I love hearing what everyone thinks of my fic and getting ideas for future chapters which are a big help

carrothien


	12. Rude awakenings

Ok finally here is the last chapter that is being reposted. The rest from here on out are going to be brand spanking new. YAY! Anyway I know that the next chapter will not be up for at least another week because I will be away from home without my computer. So expect chapter 13 in about 2 weeks from now, possibly a little sooner depending on what work is like when I get back.

Enough rambling here is chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh.

Chapter 12:

Juniper and Joey were awoken the next morning by the sound of the front door slamming shut followed by her name being yelled by a deep slurred voice. Joey and Juniper stared at each other for a second before looking at the room's entrance, toward the sound of heavy, miscalculated footsteps. Before either could move her father's figure filled the entryway. Time seemed to stand still for short time before her father made a start for them.

Before he even had a chance to make it half way across the room both Juniper and Joey were running past him toward the front door. Unfortunately Juniper wasn't fast enough to get completely past him before he caught her wrist and pulled her back toward him. Her gasp got Joey's attention and he turned in time to see her thrown hard onto the floor. He was about to react, but the look on her face kept him still. She slowly got up never taking her eyes away from Joey's. Her father finally turns to face Joey all the while sneering.

"I suggest you run along home now boy. I'll only give you one chance so you better take it." Kiito stated darkly. Then without missing a beat he turned and stalked toward where Juniper now stood. However before he could do anything she ducked down, tripped him, and bolted for the door. When she got there she wasted no time in grabbing Joey's arm and taking off down the street.

They didn't stop running until they were two blocks away at the elementary school. They walked to the playground in silence where Juniper sat down on the tire swing staring at the mulch on the ground in front of her. Joey stood beside her running the events that had just occurred through is mind. His thoughts were broken when he heard a soft sob from Juniper. Without a second thought he walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close to his chest.

"What am I going to do? He's going to kill me if I go back there." Juniper stated softly between ragged breaths, trying to collect herself. "I am sorry that you had to see that."

"You have nothing to apologize for. It isn't your fault that he's an ass hole." Joey hugged her tighter being careful not to knock her off the swing.

"I know. It's just I told you that he wouldn't come home and look what happened. He went off and I put you in danger. I'm sorry." Juniper mumbled, still trying to stop crying.

"Stop saying you're sorry. I don't blame you. In fact if anything I should thank you again for lettin' me stay." Juniper finally looked up at him and gave a small smile.

"Why are you always so nice to me? I don't deserve it." Joey leaned closer to her face and tilted her chin up so she was looking him in the eye.

"Yes you do." With that being said he leaned down and caught her lips with his. For a moment she didn't respond, but finally relaxed and leaned further toward him. When they finally broke apart both looked away from each other blushing. Joey was the first to recover and turned his head again to face Juniper. "So what do you say we get outa here. We could head over to Yugi's and hang out for awhile."

Juniper smiled then slowly got out of the tire swing. "That would be great." She started walking only to realize that Joey hadn't moved, instead he was crouched low to the ground. "What are you doing?"

"Hop on"

"What!" Juniper was completely confused about what Joey was expecting her to do. He stood up, walked over to her, and lowered himself again.

"C'mon. I'll give ya a piggy back ride." Joey smiled up at her. Juniper laughed lightly, but did as she was told. Together they headed to Yugi's house in silence.

Upon arrival they were greeted with some very amused looks from Yugi, Tristen, Tea, and Ryou. Once inside Juniper had slid of Joey's back and now stood shoulder to shoulder with him. Apparently there arrival had temporarily broke up a fight between Tea and Tristen which now both listened to. It would seem that Tristen accidentally knocked some coffee over onto Tea's skirt. Finally with Yugi's help Tea relented and they all headed into the living room.

"Man, I'm so bored." Tristen complained as he continued to channel surf. "Guys there has got to be something we can do. There is nothin' on." He resolved and threw the remote down in front of him.

After a long pause Ryou finally spoke up, "Well we could have a duel." With that they all started to smile.

"Ya know what I think that is a great idea, Ryou, but who wants to duel who?" Yugi asked.

"Juniper should duel someone." Joey smiled when he heard the unison of what's from everyone in the room. "I would love to see her play someone."

"Ok, sure I'll duel, but who do I battle?" There was a long pause before anyone spoke up.

"I'll battle you." Tea stepped forward. "This should be fun." Juniper nodded and smiled in agreement. The group headed toward the table where Juniper and Tea swapped decks to shuffle then handed them back to each other, each then setting up to duel.

"Alright Ladies, let the games begin." Joey stated signaling the beginning of the match.

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Tbc. Please Review.

Again thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter. I am glad that you guys seem to like it so far. I think that there will only be tops 16 chapters, but then again I thought that I was only going to write 9 or 10 so who knows. When I am done I plan on going through and fixing a lot of the kinks (ecspecially the first two chapters). Also I will probably add more detail to most of the chapters. I read through them again and found a few things I wanted to add or change, but decided to finish the whole story first before messing with it.

Also a HUGE and special thanks to Death Jester, with out your help this story most likely would not have had a duel in it. Thank you so much for helping me with the cards. You are the best.


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